Apple Watch 9 is too dim at night

Same here. Got the 9 gps + cell, after two nights out of the watch screen being barely visible I’ve decided to return it. 48 hrs.

I will purchase again only when the issue is fixed, IF.

I just find unacceptable that a 600$ phone comes with such a glitch.

Don’t they have testers and QC at Apple?

I understand Apple is about to release a new software update, possibly today. I have no idea if the fix is in it. It seems like it would not be rocket science to have a user-defined on/off toggle, even setting it differently for different watch faces. I believe the Ultra model had that functionality. Not series 9. It would be nice to have one watch face set to be dimmed when you're in a theater and not dimmed when you need to see the complications or stacks. But YOUR choice.

It appears that the Apple news websites are not touching on this. Perhaps post this stuff there. I don't understand why not. Perhaps this issue is limited to the few hundred of us posting here. ;-)

I am probably giving the operating system too much credit for adapting to different users, but…. The dimming and the duration of dimming might be in response to how often the user recharges the watch. I charge my SE randomly. The OS wants my battery to last longer. So my watch is rendered insanely dim to allow the battery to last 24 hours. Maybe if I charge only once every 24 hours, the watch will allow me to see it.

I thought it was just me that got a bad watch. Turns out many other people with not only the Series 9 watch have this issue, but this issue dates back to at least the Series 7 watch. I will be returning this watch. It seems as if Apple products have gone down in quality. My 2019 MacBook Pro has been nothing but problems. And I'm on my third one, which is no longer under warranty. I think I'm done buying Apple products. At least until they get their act together and start putting out quality products again. At the prices they charge, they should be putting out top notch products. That's no longer the case.

Same. I’m thinking in returning it. I’m a dj and a professional musican. I need it on dark places out it’s worthless. Thinking of returning it because it unusable for me. Seems like you should be able to get it brighter in the dark? It’s ridiculous.

I’m just going to return mine and get a different brand. Tired of messing with apple products. It comes with ridiculous instructions as do all of the apple products always have. No words, just a couple terrible drawings ands there’s your instructions. 😩

They are not addressing this issue. I’m returning mine unfortunately. I’m a musician and DJ. I strictly work in dark environments. It’s just garbage for me. Sadly, because I really like the watch during the day.

Look. It's not really a bad thing that the watch doesn't go full bright in a dark room. I'm okay with that. But how dim it is, under which watch face (that would be extra nice) and when (how much reduced ambient illumination)--this should be a user-adjustable setting. This has got to be simple software coding to make that happen. Does Apple actually read this forum? Why has there been no comment from them?

Each and every one of us should call Apple Support and start a case file. Present this issue to the Mac-centric websites so that it gets more attention. Upset the Apple Cart. (I couldn't resist ;-) It would probably take their software people about five minutes to fix this and it speaks volumes if we complain and they don't.

Sorry. Didn't fix mine. You can toggle all the [current] user display settings and it won't do a thing. This requires a code fix in a software update, and it is no big deal. A high school student could do an on/of switch setting. It might require a little more coding expertise to make that a user setting to a variable choice of diming. Take it one step further and make it watch face dependent. That would be extra cool!

Either way, hey Apple: get it together already.

Even if it did work, it's not a good workaround because setting to "always on" does drain the already too-low capacity battery even faster. This should be a simple software fix if Apple is willing to make the effort I would think. Just set the low light display level a little higher. Or more involved, but seems to already function like this in my iPhone, make the dimmed level adjustable in display settings.

I am new to the Apple world and just purchased my first Apple Watch and iPhone. I was very surprised that given Apple's reputation for making user-friendly products that something so simple as being able to see the time on a smart watch in dim light proves so difficult an issue. I feel a little silly having to turn on a light just to read the display on my expensive smart watch. I can ask Siri to tell me the time and some other things when the speech won't disturbed others nearby, but some information is only available only by reading the display.

This is how the Apple Watch display is supposed to work. When the ambient light sensor notices it bright outside, it will raise the brightness of the display. Which on the Series 9 can go up to 2000 nits when outside. When it’s darker, it will dim the display. Which can now go as low as 1 nit. If you raise your wrist it should brighten up a bit. If you go to settings on the Apple Watch, then scroll down to display and brightness, you can increase the brightness of your display.

Dude. Do you think the hundreds of people complaining about it, didn't try everything possible? Do you think we didn't contact support? When in "the environment" of low or no light. THE WATCH IS TOO DIM! Much like your responses!

I’m just trying to help to the best of my ability, I don’t need to deal with smart remarks. I understand you and others are trying many possible solutions and are having no luck. There isn’t much I can do besides provide info or possible solutions. I’m another user just like you, not an Apple employee. Anyways, hope you find a solution and have a great day.

Be nice, Randy. No need to be otherwise, right? Meanwhile, a temporary work-around is to choose "always on" and a watchface that works best for you when in "dimmed mode". I've found that "modular" with a light background is reasonable. For now. 👍